What is it about?
This study shows how storytelling can help design better healthcare with Indigenous Dayak communities in East Kalimantan. In a workshop, Dayak women shared personal health stories and co-created “Madintang,” a character reflecting their experiences, such as relying on traditional healers and facing long, difficult journeys to hospitals. Through storytelling, participants expressed emotions, cultural values, and everyday challenges like poor access, environmental change, and caregiving burdens. They also imagined better futures, including nearby clinics and collaboration between traditional and modern care. The study highlights that involving communities and valuing their stories can lead to more inclusive, culturally respectful healthcare systems.
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Photo by Ainun Jamila on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This work is timely in showing how Indigenous storytelling can reshape healthcare design. By centering Indigenous Dayak’s voices, it moves beyond standard methods to reveal cultural realities and future visions, offering a more inclusive, community-led approach to improving health systems.
Perspectives
This publication reflects my commitment to working with, not on, Indigenous communities. As someone connected to East Kalimantan, I sought to create a space where Dayak people could share their stories and shape health design. It also made me reflect on my dual role as researcher and insider, and the responsibility to represent voices ethically.
Dr Juhri Selamet
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Storytelling as co-design: insights from a health journey workshop with Indigenous Dayak people in East Kalimantan, CoDesign, December 2025, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/15710882.2025.2604230.
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